Despite being a franchise made up of 11 movies — nine of which are increasingly diminishing returns — the Hellraiser series has carved up its own legacy as a relic of horror in popular culture. Even if you don’t know his name or where he’s come from, Pinhead (alternatively named the Hell Priest by series creator Clive Barker) is almost just as recognizable as Freddy Krueger or Jason Voorhees, and the Lament Configuration (the gold-and-black puzzle box that often summons the amoral Cenobites from their own dimension) is arguably one of the most iconic props in horror movie history. The first two films, Hellraiser and Hellbound: Hellraiser II, laid the groundwork for a philosophically heady and nightmarish universe of horror, one that’s been expanded upon in books and comics; but for the most part, the sequels after the original have failed to capture exactly what it is that makes Barker’s most famous creation so alluring.
That is not a critique that can be made about Hellraiser: Revival, the recent survival horror game developed and published by Saber Interactive. It’s a direct sequel to the original two films that ignores the canon of everything that came afterward, and Saber dedicated itself to the mission of resurrecting the self-destructive sensuality and extreme S&M imagery that defined the first two installments. And according to Revival’s narrative director, Antony de Fault, going back to the source is precisely what makes the game one of the best Hellraiser projects in decades.
